


Trust as an Unlocked Door

by WatchTheAntagonist



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Canon-Typical Punning, Confinement, Except Bertie, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mentions of Fantasy Racism, Mentions of Sasha Backstory Angst, Quarantine, Rome Sidequest Spoilers, Team Bonding, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23842915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatchTheAntagonist/pseuds/WatchTheAntagonist
Summary: Sasha and Grizzop made it out of Rome, just a little bit later than Hamid and Azu. Wilde could barely trust his luck having one pair of friends return from the dead, much less a second. Ten conversations take place over ten days in confinement.Or, Grizzop cares loudly, Sasha cares threateningly, and Wile learns to trust people enough to care again.
Relationships: Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam & Oscar Wilde, Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam & Sasha Racket, Sasha Racket & Oscar Wilde
Comments: 11
Kudos: 79
Collections: Rusty Quill Gaming Exchange 2020





	Trust as an Unlocked Door

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cicsummers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cicsummers/gifts).



Day One: 

It took approximately nine hours in confinement for Grizzop to begin losing his mind. The first couple hours they had been locked in the cell together hadn’t been so bad. Most of them had been filled with him and Sasha yelling at each other, then with him yelling at Wilde, then him and Sasha yelling at each other some more. Not that he enjoyed fighting with either of them, especially not Sasha. Especially not when he, deep down, knew that she was _technically_ right and they _probably_ wouldn’t be in this situation if he had listened to her advice.

Even fighting with Sasha was better than this boredom, though. He was honestly considering picking another fight. Sasha was just sitting there, eyes closed, leaning her back against the side of the cell. The most movement she had given in the past couple hours was scratching her nose, once. Grizzop knew she wasn’t asleep, though. She was just sitting there.

Grizzop was not very good at just sitting there. Especially not when his people could be in danger.

“Why did we have to come out so much later?” Grizzop growled, jumping up suddenly and pacing the room, his ears twitching frantically.

“For the last time, Grizzop, I don’t have any better understanding of weird magic stuff than you do,” Sasha said, not bothering to open her eyes as Grizzop’s pacing sped up. “We should probably just be happy whatever the magic stuff was wore off and spat us back out before those cultists killed us.”

“Mars. I _told_ you there was something off about the Mars lot. And _Rome_ ,” Grizzop grumbled. His pacing had accelerated to the point that he was essentially just sprinting back and forth in the cell. “And now Azu and Hamid are off who-knows-where and we are stuck here with _Wilde_.” Grizzop all but spat out the last word. To think that he had been starting to think that maybe Wilde wasn’t so bad, then the man goes and locks him up when his people are in trouble.

Grizzop didn’t have time for this. Three whole years had gone by already, apparently. Thank Artemis he hadn’t aged, at least. But he’s stuck, and people need his help. There’s good to be done, right outside this stupid cell, and he can’t get there. He just has to sit, and feel the hours tick by, and know that he will never get them back.

“How are you so calm about this? Don’t you care about what’s happening out there?” he snapped at Sasha, whirling around to face her. A dagger flies past his cheek, bounces perfectly off of one of the bars behind him, and lands at his feet. He sighed and took a deep breath, forcing his ears to relax. “Sorry. I know you care about them, too. It’s just hard, not being able to do anything. I’m not good at waiting.”

“Want to learn how to throw a dagger?” Sasha asked. Grizzop nodded, taking it as the olive branch it was.

“Maybe we can get Wilde to bring us some cards, too. Might as well do _something_.”

* * *

Day Two:

Wilde came down to the cell on the second day of Sasha and Grizzop’s confinement to find Grizzop glaring him and Sasha ignoring him. If it was really them, he reminded himself. It probably wasn’t actually them. He couldn’t get his hopes up like that. He accidentally bumped into the door of the cell. It shouldn’t have been anything to remark on, though he did instinctively step away from the bars and any chance someone inside could grab him. The scar on his face twinged as he did so. Neither Sasha nor Grizzop moved or even seemed to give any mind to either his proximity or his reaction to it. Sasha was still sitting leaned up against the wall, eyes closed but posture alert; Grizzop was still in the back corner of the cell, glaring daggers nearly as sharp as those Sasha keeps handy. The issue was that, at the slight jostle, the cell door swung open.

“What the—” Wilde sputters, more out of surprise than anything. Neither Sasha nor Grizzop moved. “How—That should be impossible to pick!”

“When?” Grizzop asked, staring at Sasha with wide eyes. “I’ve literally been in the same cell with you _and_ I have dark-vision when did you even—”

“Picked it,” Sasha said, addressing Wilde. She turned to Grizzop. “Couple hours after we got here.” It occurred to Wilde that neither he nor Grizzop had been asking the right question.

“Why,” Wilde said, mildly impressed with the lack of intonation in his own voice. He wasn’t sure if he was asking why she picked the lock or why she hadn’t made a run for it when she had the chance.

“You’re off,” she said. She glared at him with more emotion she has shown since they had first been reunited.

“What does that even mean?” Wilde tugged at his hair in frustration.

“There haven’t been any puns,” Sasha said. If these past three years hadn’t taught Wilde that no one truly cared about him, he might have mistaken it for concern.

“Sorry if I’ve been a little occupied—”

“I like the puns,” Sasha cut him off. It almost seemed like a threat.

“Well,” Wilde said, taking a breath. “There hasn’t been much to _cell_ -ebrate.”

Grizzop groaned, and even Wilde winced. That had been weak. Gods, is he loosing his touch?

“Good,” Sasha said, nodding formally.

“That lock was supposed to be unpickable. Just tell me—” Wilde started.

“Ha! I used to have to get harder locks than that open if I wanted dinner,” Sasha interrupted, not seeming to notice how both Wilde and Grizzop winced at her comment.

“I should have killed Barrett when I had the chance,” Grizzop mumbles darkly. Sasha gave him a look Wilde couldn’t read before turning back.

“I’ll lock it again,” Sasha said, sounding almost apologetic.

“And keep it locked?” Wilde asked, his voice way more pleading than he meant it to be.

“We also want a deck of cards,” Sasha said.

* * *

Day Three:

“Do you think Hamid and Azu are okay?” Grizzop asked.

“Yeah, I’d say so.” Sasha flipped one of her knives up, throwing it at a perfect arc so it just barely grazed the ceiling before coming back down. She grabbed it by the hilt and slipped it back into her sleeve, pulling out a different dagger at the same time with a motion so smooth she was sure that no one watching would have been able to detect the swap. She’d have to show Grizzop how to do that one. After he managed to finally throw one up and catch it without cutting himself again.

“Are you sure though? I mean, they’re great, don’t get me wrong, but they’re a little. . .” Grizzop trailed off, gesturing vaguely with one hand. Sasha raised an eyebrow. She did know what he meant actually. Hamid and Azu could be so _trusting_ sometimes. “I just mean, we’re the ones who get things done, y’know?”

“’s okay. Wilde said they got Zolf with them,” Sasha said. “He gets things done, too, ‘long as he doesn’t get mopey again.”

“Sure,” Grizzop said, he leaned forward on the balls of his feet. “But, I mean, no offense, but he _left_ you guys, right? Doesn’t really sound like the most dependable person to me.”

“Zolf’s good,” Sasha said. She thought back to the first time they met, how he stepped in to help some nobody in an alley. How he gave her the first job she ever had that she could leave if she wanted to. And he never went back on that, never coerced her, or hurt her, or threatened her. The fact that she could leave just meant that he could also leave. She couldn’t hold that against him. That’s what made her sure that Zolf would keep Hamid and Azu safe, but she wasn’t sure she could put that into words well enough to convey the feeling to Grizzop. “He put me back together after Mr. Ceiling took all my organs out,” she continued lamely.

Grizzop mumbled something that might have been a comment on her later need for the Heart of Aphrodite but didn’t press the issue further. He did, however, continue fidgeting in the way that let her know that he wasn’t going to let her go back to practicing her knife tricks in peace. And there was no way she was going to let him get out the deck of cards Wilde had brought them again. She wasn’t going to fall into whatever long con he had going on with that, especially when she was almost starting to fall for it and believe that he, somehow, genuinely didn’t know how to cheat.

“Zolf’s a get-stuff-done guy, too, mostly. Unless he’s too slow to actually get to where the things need to be done, or too mopey about his god stuff. But he’s usually pretty good about it,” Sasha said.

“Why are we still here?” Grizzop sounded about two moments from started to bang his head against the wall of the cell.

“Even if we leave, we have no idea where Hamid and Azu are, and we won’t be able to catch up to them even if we did,” Sasha said, mildly frustrated. It wasn’t like it was anything Grizzop didn’t know, and she didn’t even mention the difficulties of sneaking out with him in tow. He knew why they were here as well as she did.

And there was not way she was risking Grizzop’s life again so soon. Rome had been too close.

Grizzop abandoned the conversation with an irritated growl and began sprinting around in circles again. He nearly ran into her when he misjudged the distance he had to stop. At least he hadn’t gone back to what she was starting to think of as boredom screaming yet, unless, yep, there he goes. She forces her hand to unclench around her dagger. Already her resolution to keep him safe was being tested.

* * *

Day Four:

“And what makes you think you have the right to keep us locked up here?” Grizzop snapped, breaking his vow to keep silent and let Wilde sweat almost immediately. “I am a paladin! Of Artemis!”

“I’ve said it before, but paladins and clerics of Artemis and the other gods have been infected before,” Wilde said with a stoicism that made Grizzop grind his teeth.

“Oh, yeah? And how are we supposed to know you aren’t infected?”

“Are you trying to get him to get naked?” Sasha asked. She looked meaningfully at Wilde and seemed disappointed when he didn’t try to make any sort of a joke. She finished off the rest of her comment in a mumble. “Cuz last time one of our party tried that it didn’t end super well for him.”

“Wait, who tried to get with Wilde?”

“Bertie. Wilde wrote this whole newspaper article mocking him,” Sasha said.

“Well, not to speak ill of the dead, but he probably deserved it,” Grizzop said. “But that’s not the point! The point is, there probably aren’t any newspapers anymore! Because the world is ending! And! We! Are! Stuck! Here!”

“Grizzop, there is not other option. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.” The calm impassivity in Wilde’s voice just made Grizzop want to scream at him even more. He rushed forwards and grabbed the bars, ignoring the way Sasha flinched at the sudden movement. Grizzop bared his teeth at Wilde.

“Come on, Grizzop, it’s not so bad. I mean, they’re feeding us and everything. Most places don’t bother with that unless they want you alive for interrogation,” Sasha said. Her tone was the same casual offhandedness she used when she dropped some other tragic piece of backstory, but it’s the way she eyes Wilde when she says it more than anything that gets Grizzop to let go of the bars and take a breath.

“I would never—” Wilde starts, the stone-faced façade dropping for just a moment and something like concern flashing in his eyes. He took a deep breath “Sasha, you know I would never hurt you or Grizzop. As long as you are who you seem to be.”

“Course I know that,” Sasha said. Grizzop figured that was probably true or else she would have broken out ages ago, but Wilde still looked shaken and Grizzop couldn’t help but aim for the weak spot.

“We don’t know anything. You aren’t telling us _anything_ ,” he snarled. Wilde’s face closed off again and he turned and left.

* * *

Day Five:

“You know what his problem is?” Grizzop grumbled. Sasha was only half listening. He had been going on for hours. “He thinks he’s more important than other people. It’s the total opposite of your problem.”

“What problem are you talking about?” Sasha growled, opening her eyes. From the way Grizzop started, he had probably thought she was asleep. “I don’t have a problem.”

“You don’t put enough value on your life, we’ve _talked_ about this,” Grizzop blurted out.

“Yeah, that’s rich coming from you.” Sasha clenched her fists in her lap.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been going on about how I’m doing the wrong thing risking me life when that’s my job. Then you go and _Rome_ , and the spear, and it was supposed to hit me,” Sasha’s voice wobbled.

“Oh, oh, Sasha,” Grizzop said, his red eyes getting wider with surprise and worry. Sasha registered that a tear was streaking down her cheek and abruptly buried her face in her arms, bringing her knees up to her chest. She hadn’t cried in front of anyone since. . . since she wasn’t even sure when. Before Brock was taken, definitely. Probably since before that, since she had realized she was so much better than him at the sneak-thief stuff and it had to be her job to protect him.

“You almost died,” Sasha whispered. “I’m not worth that.”

“No!” Grizzop sprang up. “That’s the whole problem!”

Sasha looked up at his outburst and saw him jerkily smearing angry tears from his eyes. She stayed silent as he closed his eyes and took a breath. She could swear she hear him quietly counting to ten.

“I wasn’t mad about the dagger because you almost died. Well, not mostly. I was mad because you seemed to think that it was okay to sacrifice your life for a thing,” Grizzop said. Sasha eyed him, but he continued before she could interrupt. “Which is _way_ different than what I did. Because. You. Are. Not. A. Thing.”

Grizzop was yelling again by the end, but Sasha got the sense he wasn’t actually yelling at her. Just at a part of her that Barrett had put there, she guessed.

“If you had sacrificed yourself for Hamid, or Azu, or even _Wilde_ , I wouldn’t have been mad. Well, I would have been. But not at you.” Grizzop’s ears dropped and his voice lowered to almost a whisper. “I don’t want to lose you, and especially not because of some _thing_.”

“How about we both just try not to die?” Sasha asked, sniffling a little with her voice still a little wobbly. “I don’t want to lose you either.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” Grizzop gave her a shaky smile and she smiled back.

“And you can’t just fix people’s problems just by yelling at them enough, Grizzop.”

“I know. I just really wish I could.” Grizzop flopped down on the floor next to her, their shoulders nearly touching. After a moment to get used to the proximity, Sasha leaned into it, collapsing into his side and burying her face in his shoulder. He didn’t try to wrap an arm around her, and she was grateful. She took a moment to breathe. He was alive and so was she. It may be hard work to keep it that way, but they’d both be working towards that goal. And they were the ones that got stuff done.

* * *

Day Six:

“I need Sasha to come with me,” Wilde said. Sasha stiffened. Consciously, she knew that Wilde wasn’t going to hurt her, but it was hard to quash down the memories of cellmates being dragged out individually and coming back beaten, bloodied, or not at all. Grizzop must see whatever look passes across her face, because he steps forward and opens his mouth, presumably to start another screaming fight.

“What do you want with her?” he asked.

“I’m not going to interrogate her,” Wilde said, hurt flashing across his face before vanishing into the stoic, unsmiling mask that Sasha was really starting to hate. “There’s a safe that someone brought in. I can’t give you any details, but what’s inside is important to the cause. And we can’t get it unlocked. Our rogue, Howard Carter, gave it his best shot, but he also said that the lock on this cell is impossible to pick so I’m inclined to get a second opinion.”

“You let _Carter_ near that thing before asking me?” Sasha asked incredulously, forcing the hand curled around one of her daggers to relax. “Show me. Now. Before he screws it up even worse than he probably already did.”

“You sure?” Grizzop catches her arm as she walks by him. She forces a small smile onto her face.

“I’ve got this. Besides, it’ll be good to stretch my legs.” She walks to the cell door and kicks it open before Wilde can realize for himself that it’s unlocked again. To his credit, he doesn’t even look surprised this time, just eyes her warily as she steps out of the cell and stretches. “Now let’s see if we can’t get this done _safe-_ ly.”

Wilde didn’t react to what she thought was a pretty good pun, just showed her to the safe while watching every move she made with the utmost care. The lockbox itself should have been pretty simple to crack, if stupid Carter hadn’t screwed it up with his attempt. She assured Wilde that she could get it with some time and got to work.

“Did you really think I would hurt you?” Wilde said softly after a few moments of silence except for the clicking of the lock mechanism. Sasha didn’t look up from her job, but responded after a moment trying to figure out how to put it into words.

“Nah, not really. Well, I was a little worried the first day because there was a lot going on and you were being weird and quiet. But after I picked the lock and you didn’t do anything bad, I figured you were probably alright. Little different than how you were last time we saw you, but that’s okay,” Sasha said. “Besides, I get why you’re keeping us locked up.”

“What?” Wilde said. Sasha notices out of the corner of her eye that he was touching the scar on his face again.

“Yeah, ‘course. I mean, when I first joined up with Hamid and Zolf, I had loads of stuff. I trusted them, but I couldn’t _just_ trust them, y’know. Like, I used to hoard food all the time, and sleep with a dagger—well, more daggers than I do now—and not like when they got behind me and all sorts of things. I didn’t _actually_ think they were going to starve me or stab me in the back or whatever, but, well. . .” Sasha trailed off. “I figure keeping us locked up is kinda like that. You need to be _sure_ before you let yourself trust us.” Wilde was silent for a long moment as Sasha continued her work on the lock. The air felt heavy, and she tried desperately to think of a good pun for the situation.

“That Barrett guy Grizzop mentioned?” Wilde said. Sasha stiffened, her work on the lock halting for the first time since she had started. He’s not important, anymore, she desperately reminded herself. “Remind me to track him down and deal with him if the apocalypse hasn’t already.”

“Hey, thanks, Wilde!” Sasha said, her face breaking out into a wide grin. Not her first since she had been here, but perhaps the most honest. Wilde smiled tentatively back. It twisted the scar on his face, but it was still a good smile. “You’re a good pal.”

“Grizzop doesn’t get it,” Wilde said softly after a long pause.

“No,” Sasha said. Wilde nodded and didn’t say anything else, but Sasha got the sense that this is bothering him more than he was letting on. “You should apologize for calling him a thing when you first met.”

“I said that?” Wilde said, sounding mildly confused.

“Yeah. You probably didn’t mean anything in particular by it, but it made him upset. It’s really important to him, y’know, that people aren’t things.” The last of the lock gave into her clever touch and the lock clicked open. She left the lid of the box closed, figuring Wilde would probably want to open it himself. “I think that it’s important to me, too.”

* * *

Day Seven:

“I, uh, I wanted to apologize to you.” Wilde spoke immediately after approaching the cell. The words that usually flowed easily from his throat seemed to be getting stuck there. Grizzop arched an eyebrow at him. “For my behavior when we first met, I mean. I was rude, and I spoke carelessly.”

“You know, I didn’t think you were a bad guy. Sasha seemed to like you. Though that’s at least a little bit because she thinks you’re funny.”

“I think you mean _pun_ -ny,” Sasha said, looking at Wilde for approval as Grizzop winced.

“Ah, there’s an important part about the art of puns that involves timing?” Wilde tried to say delicately. Sasha just looked confused. “We’ll get to it.”

“As I was saying, I didn’t think you were a bad guy. Not evil, anyways. But there are plenty of ‘not evil—‘” Grizzop made air quotes around the phrase—”who are bad about the Goblin thing. Then I realized that wasn’t it and you were just being a jerk.”

“That’s fair,” Wilde said, wincing. “I suppose I have a tendency to be rather flippant with my relationships. I don’t generally expect them to last very long.”

“Maybe they’d have a better chance of lasting longer if you didn’t start them by being a jerk.”

“You might be right,” Wilde said. “We got off on the wrong foot. But you still saved my life, even when I was actively pushing you away. I think that’s when I realized I wanted my relationship with the two of you to be more than that of a passing acquaintance necessitated by the Meritocrats. I suppose I wanted us to actually be friends.” Wilde winced at how vulnerable he sounded, refusing to meet their eyes.

“Then we vanished,” Grizzop said.

“Then you _died_ , as far as I knew. Getting Azu and Hamid back was already unbelievable. Having you two here as well? It still seems too good to be true.”

“But we’re here,” Sasha interjected. Wilde finally looked up, only to find her smiling. “So, let’s give the friends thing another go?”

“I’m attaching one condition to that, though,” Grizzop said, staring at Wilde. Wilde took a breath. Would he demand to be let out? For as much as he wanted to believe it was really them, he couldn’t take that risk. But he didn’t want to lose what might be his only chance to make reparations, either.

“What’s that?” Wilde said cautiously. Grizzop grinned.

“Take a nap! Seriously, if the bags under your eyes get any darker I’m going to have to assume you have another curse on you,” Grizzop said. Just like that, the heavy atmosphere dissipated “And if that’s the case, I’m sure Sasha will break us out so we can help you out again.” Sasha nodded vigorously.

“Fine. I’ll get some sleep. Just, stay here for a few more days, please? For my peace of mind.”

“Alright. All you had to do was ask,” Grizzop said, settling down on the floor. “Before you go take your nap, want to play a round of cards?”

“Alright,” Wilde said, laughing for what felt like the first time in ages.

* * *

Day Eight:

“Get it? Because, y’know, I’m sneaky and can clime up walls good and stuff.”

“I’m sure your keen ears could make you a _spy_ -der.”

“Ah! Yeah, that’s much better. And, because they’ll never see me coming, I’ll be invisi- _bee_ -le.”

“They will never _ant_ -icipate you.”

“Why are we still making puns about insects?”

“Cuz I killed that fly with my dagger. It was cool.”

“It was pretty cool.”

“Yes. It was cool. Sasha is awesome. We all know this. But it was an hour ago, and we are still making puns about insects.”

“Well, Grizzop, you know what they say. Time _flies_ when you’re having fun.”

“Oh! Me next! Uh. . . It was the _time_ of its life? Or death?”

“Ehh. You can do better than that.”

“Ugh. Can we _please_ do something else?”

“You really want to go back to cards? Because I’m pretty sure both you and I owe Sasha more money than either of us will ever see at this point.”

“I do not understand how you guys are so bad at it.”

“Usually I’m not. You could call me Os _card_ Wilde if you’d like.”

“Stoooopp.”

“Would you rather I say that Sasha’s luck is un- _bee_ -leivable?”

“No.”

“Heh. Yep, definitely luck. So, we should change the subject and get Grizzop to make a pun, right? I think that would be a good idea.”

“No.”

“Come on. You can do it.”

“Fine. When you finally unlock that door and let us out of here, I’m going to be more _cell_ -ective with the company I keep.”

“Hey, not bad. And you know you love us, Grizzop.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not tempted to kill you both right now.”

“I think that pun was a- _door_ -able.”

* * *

Day Nine:

“I am sorry for not trusting you, truly,” Wilde said. He was eying Grizzop nervously as Grizzop paced around the cell again. Nothing that came out of Wilde’s mouth ever sounded completely sincere, but Grizzop had a sense that this is as close as Wilde gets. Grizzop wasn’t exactly sure what his own facial expression looked like to prompt such a confession.

“That’s not it,” Grizzop said. He forced himself to relax and sit down. As pent up and frustrated as he felt at the moment, he was reasonable enough to recognize that it wasn’t entirely Wilde’s fault.

“Besides, you do trust us,” Sasha said, her tone making it seem like the most obvious observation in the world. Wilde eyed Grizzop, seeming to be bracing himself for another shouting outburst.

“You have an interesting definition of trust,” Wilde said after Grizzop didn’t protest Sasha’s observation, still watching Grizzop carefully. Sasha, meanwhile, chewed her lip.

“I think that trusting people means that, when they tell you that you can leave you believe them. And that makes it okay to stay.” Sasha spoke slowly, picking each word with care.

“That’s why you’re still here,” Wilde said. About time he figured it out. His eyes were wide, and Grizzop figured that he realized what a rare and precious thing he had been gifted with. “But I didn’t tell you that you could leave.”

“You didn’t try to change the locks after I picked them,” Sasha said with a shrug. Grizzop supposed that for a master such as her that is equivalent.

“I didn’t have anything better to replace them with,” Wilde protested. “Nothing you wouldn’t have been able to pick, anyways.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t try to either. So, I figured that was you trusting us. You trust us to stay even when you tell us we can leave. Little backwards, but you’ve always been weird.”

Wilde stayed silent, seeming to ponder that over. Grizzop eyed the lock, wondering vaguely if it was locked or unlocked, and saw Wilde doing the same. Neither of them bothered to get up and check.

* * *

Day Ten:

Wilde practically sprinted down to the cells on the final day. He knew the huge grin on his face was twisting the scar on his face into something horrific, but for once he couldn’t bring himself to care. Either about his appearance of the other changes the scar had left with him. He could finally be done with the voice in his head that whispered that there was no way Grizzop and Sasha could really be back, and he was going to enjoy it.

“Took you long enough,” Grizzop said, but he said it with a smile.

“I’m guessing you are ready to be out of there,” Wilde said with a matching grin. He reached out to pull on the door to hold it open for them, only to find it locked. Wilde had to chuckle to himself at the fact that he was honestly surprised. “You want to do the honors, Sasha?”

“Nope. You have to unlock it,” Sasha said curtly. Wilde looked up at her, surprised, and found her staring at him seriously, playing absentmindedly, but somehow still threateningly, with one of her daggers. “It’s symbolic.”

“Alright,” Wilde said. He pulled out the key and inserted it into the lock before hesitating slightly. Sasha and Grizzop had every right to resent him for the past ten days. Sure, the past couple had been. . .well, fun. He had enjoyed playing cards and making puns with them more than he’d enjoyed anything in a long time. But he had no right to expect them to have just forgiven him for locking them up. He had to remember that. But he also had no right to keep them there any longer. He turned the key and swung the door open in one fluid motion.

Grizzop and Wilde stared at each other for a moment, neither moving. Wilde forced himself to meet his eyes and whatever judgement might be there. Then Grizzop raced forwards and Wilde felt small arms wrapped around his waist in a tight hug. Though he hadn’t seen Sasha move, much less get behind him, Wilde felt another pair of arms wrap around him from behind. He smiled and returned the hug he hadn’t known he needed. Maybe this caring about people thing wasn’t so bad, after all.


End file.
